Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 44 Entries. Tuesday, June 9 View Page recapping,if i have this figured out, this is the result of my effort from the 2007 season, personal best 501 lbs Tuesday, June 9 View Page dissection day, revealing nice enough wall thickness. i got quite a few seeds. i will take 2008 off to grow veggies. the seed drying was effective, after washing i put them on some newspaper, which was stupid cause the paper stuck to them. got them off the paper, and onto my big, old, wooden kitchen table. much more effective. this year, they put out some good plants. i got some folks to take them, and gave the rest to the library for their book/plant sale. Tuesday, June 9 View Page this is what i did last year. and alot of it. most enjoyable. full intent on growing in 2009. Tuesday, June 9 View Page the winters in southern vermont are not for the weak. they are long. toward the end, your really looking forward to seeing the ground. Tuesday, June 9 View Page and then being here becomes wonderful again. Tuesday, June 9 View Page planting day may 16th, 2009. i got me an occasional helper this year. shes smiling cause i told her that come july, all my time would be spent in the patch, with a new girlfriend. she thinks i'm kidding. Wednesday, June 10 View Page well, it's all on this plants shoulders to do something. no backup. if it fails, i get to enjoy the great things vermont offers more often. Wednesday, June 10 View Page well the weather has been cooler than last year. i'm covering it at night. i'm unable to be here full time so ken my neighbor has been helping me see it through the chilly may nights. he's not growing this year, i believe it's the loss of a big one last season. i can understand. Wednesday, June 10 View Page well its been in the ground three weeks. it has just started to move. in the wrong direction. i planted it at a slant to help with possible crimping, which didn't help much cause it still wanted to grow up (sounds like what my sisters used to tell me) so i gently forced it down with bamboo sticks. it also decided to do a 180 and grow towards the sun and my driveway. over the course of a few days, i got it back on track. i'm not babying this thing. no soil warmer or space heaters. its starting to move. my fourth year. about 200 sqft. smaller than most, but i got a 501 here in 2007. good luck everyone. Saturday, June 20 View Page well, almost 8 inches of rain in just over a week. some warm, sunny days would be appreciated. Tuesday, June 30 View Page hey, how about some sunshine here in southern vermont, please. also now wish i had two rain barrels. the plant looks okay today. it could go to hell tomorrow. have sprayed with fungicide. cut off two females, at about 5 and 6 feet out. they both had decent 5 lobes. had a male or two open as well. at about 11', sits a candidate. not sure if it will open by the fourth but it will be around there. even without sun, the plant is growing. Tuesday, June 30 View Page a view of where i want the plant to occupy. its not a huge area, about 200sq'. Monday, July 6 View Page well she got what she wanted this morning. i hope it was good for him too. Tuesday, July 7 View Page after pollinating on 7/6 around 6:45 am, i went to work. when i came back to the house for lunch, the plant was suffering in the direct sunlight, which has not been around much in these parts lately. so i watered to cool the area, and the plant down. it perked right up. then i put some cold packs under the leaves. hopefully it decides to grow. Thursday, July 16 View Page wellit time for an update. self, hand pollination, took place july 6th, at 11 feet out. thats two days ahead of my last season which was 2007, and 501 lbs. today, i am being more optimistic about it actually being a pnkin. we will see what tomorrow brings. the potential sits just left of center. Thursday, July 16 View Page spent about three hours in the patch today. been a long time since i've done the time needed for pinching tertiarys, snipping old male stems, a little rototilling early walkways, covering leaf stems, watering, fertilizing with a pump sprayer, under and over the leaves, training the secondarys and what not. my effort is more relaxed each year i do this. of course i'll be absolutely pissed if if doesn't materialize into a weighable specimen. what did u think. Tuesday, July 21 View Page its been 4 days since the last photo. this pumpkin is in a terrible position. but it was at 11' out. a normal looking 5-lobe. only had two males. i also had to move the main vine, away from this pumpkin, and then back again, to utilize my space. i took a secondary, and crossed it over the main, cut a few leaves of it, and its now filling a void, on the other side of the plant. it has rained today 2 1/4". and its still raining. i need 13" of growth tonight to keep up with my 501 lb. of 2007. its been 15 days since hand pollination. Tuesday, July 21 View Page i had to remove an important leaf today, that has been shielding this pnkin. it's the size of my trash can cover. tomorrow, i'll be figuring out some sort of sun shield. i also raised the vine today. these are some of the roots from beneath the leaf axils. some nice hot weather would be good to get this going Saturday, July 25 View Page i'm pretty sure thats sun i see on the pnkin. she's 32x32x44, for 108 ott. growing 9" a night. maybe with some sun and heat, it will step it up. it's 27" less ott than it was 2 years ago. i'm liking the way the plant looks for all the wet weather. fungicide again tonight. Saturday, July 25 View Page beach ball at 21 days. i only get sun to 3pm. that is if the sun ever comes out. Friday, July 31 View Page what a roller coaster. a couple days of sun, then inches of rain, then cloudy with humidity, then more rain, now cloudy and cool weather predicted for a few days. she is at 67x46x47. a day or so behind my 501 of 2007. growing, but not really well. good enough i guess. Wednesday, August 5 View Page well she's still okay with another girl in my life. this was taken 3 days ago. Thursday, August 6 View Page hey! it's still growing. summer has somewhat arrived, for now. the pnkin has averaged about 12 lbs a day, for the last four, unobserved days. before i left, i took out a secondary, that was putting pressure on the stem. Thursday, August 6 View Page that is what u call a 45 degree angle. it is the main, and i have got it to go around the pnkin, with some coaxing, by way of cord that u see, at bottom left, attached to a stake, driven in the ground. it was not a great position since conception. it was however, the only viable candidate for a giant. Thursday, August 6 View Page a front view of the plant. i believe there is about 150-160 leaves. that is about 20 leaves shy of my 501 in 2007. but i think this plant is better. unfortunately, to this date in 2007, there had been about (16)- 90 degree days. this year there has been (2). hows that for growing difference. Thursday, August 6 View Page and this would be the back view. threw out some kelp meal 4 days ago, and now it smells like the ocean around the patch. damn, i love the ocean. Sunday, August 9 View Page well, the last 2 days were okay, 31 lbs. it's at day 34, and sits at 58-60-92. i've been covering it with a blanket. its been chilly here in the evening, tonight a lot warmer, so no tuck in. Tuesday, August 18 View Page i'm not sure why i look so grumpy. she is at 300lbs this morning! its been hot, and sunny, for over a week. its about time. as a neighbor put it, these are amnesia days, the ones that make u forget all about winter. looking at the 2007 chart, from my 501, i got about 3 weeks of growing left. thats just under 10lbs a day for me to achieve a personal best. my fingers are crossed. Tuesday, August 18 View Page just over three months in the ground. no ugly shade stucture this year. using a couple of light colored fitted sheets. i'm glad i made that decision. Tuesday, September 1 View Page well, 2 weeks since last post, and things ain't so bad. it's going to be tough to get another 102-lbs. out of this thing the remaining season. its not over yet. its at 400-lbs. today. i had it covered the last 5 days with two fitted sheets, a blanket, and a tarp, allowing a little air flow at the bottom, as i was unable to disrobe it somewhat, during the daytime sunshine. it's averaged 6-lbs. a night for the last 5 nights. i'm posting other pics for a better look at the pnkin. one question i am going ask in general discussion is, with my limited plant, now less than 100 leaves, this late in the season, do i cut the main just past the pnkin, to squeeze out some growth, or is that more harm than good. Tuesday, September 1 View Page so here's the stem end. the main goes past the left of the pnkin for about 8'. i'm pulling it back with rope, so it causes less stress on the stem, and doesn't dig into the pnkin. i'm thinking about cutting the main, slowly, right at the pumpkin. Tuesday, September 1 View Page a view from the other side of the stem end. going to get real chilly here tonight, in southern vermont. Tuesday, September 1 View Page well, heres the pic. Tuesday, September 1 View Page if it doesn't grow anymore, i'm happy enough, i guess. the season started out pretty wet, we had two weeks of summer ,( giving it it's biggest gains) and now it 70's for a week, with nighttime lows close to 40 degrees. Tuesday, September 1 View Page heres the main pass the pnkin, about 14 leaves. Tuesday, September 1 View Page did it again, damn it, heres the picture. Tuesday, September 1 View Page remember to put the big fish u caught, the trophy you got for track, your giant tomato, and the pumpkin u have growing, in front of you, so it tricks the eye. next photo shows me beside it, and it looks half the size. Thursday, September 3 View Page same pumpkin, different angle, doesn't look 400lbs. here, does it. it's at day 57, since pollination. it measures at 118x76x73, for 268 ott. i'm growing my own 501 macquarrie 07, from a 974 dlanders 06 (from a female 1130 lyons 05, x male 1031 story 05) Saturday, September 19 View Page not growing much. keeping it covered. frost warning expected tonight. Saturday, September 19 View Page white flies were a new addition to pests this year. spraying often, got my leaves mad. no noticeable vineborer damage. grubex has seemed to work. Saturday, September 19 View Page weird looking clam shell appearance. blossom end almost touching the sand, which toads like to bury themselves in. Tuesday, October 6 View Page today was the day for moving. rain expected here tomorrow. last time i put it in the truck the help was informed well before. this time realized i hadn't planned on the help. a few neighbors were in the right friendly kinda of mood so it was 6 altogether. put it on the bed first lift, with one of those tarps with all the hand holds i got at topsfield a few years ago. here she is before cutting. Tuesday, October 6 View Page giving thanks to the end of a decent season, with an okay pnkin. it deserved more sun, more heat, and more me. maybe next year, as this was some 35lbs less than my personal best. i'm not complaining, really. Tuesday, October 6 View Page shes going to coella's supermarket in hopkington massachusetts, about 120 miles from here. she'll be in the produce section, receiving nice compliments all day.